Simple Offer
by TenshiShanai
Summary: It had been a simple offer. Just something the boy could rely on. If the older man had known what would come out of it he wouldn't have made the offer. Or would he? Yaoi, AU, some kind of OOCness RoyXED rating for later chapters. Chap 6 is up!
1. 1st time

I'm back with my newest story. It's yaoi and it's kind of AU as it doesn't stick to the plot of the manga or anime over all. I hope you enjoy it.

I appreciate criticism. So if something disturbs you please tell me so I can edit it or take it out of the story.

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Title: Simple Offer

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)

Pairing: Roy/Ed

Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

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_It had been a simple offer. Just something the boy could rely on. If the older man had known what would come out of it he wouldn't have made the offer. Or would he?_

First Time

Roy sat behind his desk and sighed heavily. He had just brought Ed back to the Tucker's estate. The boy had been unconscious but called for his mother and repeated 'I'm sorry' all over again. He couldn't even imagine what the blonde must have gone through in the night they had transmuted Trisha Elric.

Suddenly the door opened and the state's youngest National Alchemist entered the office with his younger brother behind him. He frowned at the dark-haired man behind his desk.

"Edward? Alphonse? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be with Tucker?"

He was really impressed that the brothers were standing in front of him despite what had happened just an hour before. The scowl deepened and the blonde glared at him.

"We got kicked out. Your friend Grant told us to leave Tucker alone."

The boy sat in one of the armchairs in front of Roy's desk and pouted.

"Well that is surprising."

The dark-haired man leaned back and let his smirk slip in place. Ed just rolled his eyes.

"So get us somewhere to stay or do you expect us to sleep under a bride?"

The lieutenant colonel looked at the 12-year old. How could he be so teenager-like when he just had been so vulnerable? He shook the thoughts away and called for Hawkeye.

"Lieutenant. Could you find out if there is a dorm room for our State Alchemist and his brother?"

The blond lieutenant looked at her dark-haired superior officer and answered right away.

"Sir, there are no rooms available tonight."

Roy looked at her and rubbed the bridge of his nose.

"Right. Some inspection of troupes from the South. I had forgotten they were here. Haven't seen one of them the entire week.", he muttered under his breath and sighed heavily. "So we have to find another place for those two to stay."

What a visionary thing to say. They searched for hours for somebody the Elrics could stay with. The dorms were out of question, the hotels were booked with guests for some sort of an event and well the only guest house that had free rooms was not in a situation where Roy would have let the boys stay over night. He also didn't want to send them to Hughes and his family so shortly after Elysia's birth. It wasn't that the Elrics would disturb the newborn's sleep but the other way around.

The time Roy had come back to his office the small blonde had curled up in the armchair dozing off. He looked down and sighed. They had tried to find a place for them to stay – they couldn't find one – and now the lieutenant colonel thought about the only place he could offer them – his own home. He groaned loudly. He had seen the blonde's temper already but also had seen his vulnerable side. He just hoped the boy was tired enough to be calm. As he looked down two golden orbs were glaring up at him.

"What?!", the blond boy growled.

"I have found a place for you two to stay."

The youth stretched and yawned.

"Good. I'm tired. Where are we staying?"

"With me."

Suddenly it was very silent in the office. Ed's mouth stand open and he gasped at the older man.

"No.", was the younger's answer after some moments.

"This or you will have to stay outside."

"But..."

The young alchemist had been silenced by Roy's immense stare and looked away.

"Get your suitcase and follow me. We are driving to the house."

The boy followed the older man to the parking area. They drove to the two-storey house near a small park. It was small but it looked nice. Roy opened the front door and let them in. Edward was nearly asleep on his feet by now and the young officer mused that 9 pm must be the usual bed time for the kid. He let them upstairs to a small but comfortable guest room. It would be enough for tonight and tomorrow the raven-haired man would manage to get a dorm room for the brothers. But things hardly go the way the dark-haired man wants when he's not in the office.

He was woken by a scream in the middle of the night. After that he heard someone pleading for forgiveness. Roy recognised this voice. He had heard it just hours before in a military car. He rubbed his eyes and stood up to silence the 12-year old. He put his robe over his pyjamas and walked into the guest room where Alphonse was already kneeling next to his brother and tried to wake him.

"Nii-san, wake up. You're waking the whole neighbourhood. Come on, Nii-san."

The armour was shaking the small body but he couldn't get him out of a a very nasty kind of nightmare. Roy cleared his throat. The armour spun around and looked at him. He couldn't make out an emotion behind those glowing eyes.

"Lieutenant colonel. I- I'm sorry. Nii-san won't wake up. I tried but I can't get him to stop.", the younger Elric whined despite not being able to whine physically.

"It's okay. Everyone has nightmares. Would you let me try to wake him up?"

Alphonse stood up and made room for his brother's commanding officer to stay next to Ed's bed.

"Edward, wake up!"

He shook the small teen's shoulder but the kid just groaned and knitted his brows even further together. The older man sighed heavily. The alarm clock on the night stand showed 3 in the morning – just 3 more hours to sleep.

"Edward! Ed!" His words didn't effect the boy.

He sighed and looked down. The blonde was sweating and gripped his pillow tightly. The dark-eyed man knelt down and cupped the boy's cheeks in his hands.

"Edward, don't make me slap you."

The blonde squirmed and let out another cry before Roy couldn't hold out any longer. He slapped the boy and that did the trick. Edward was unfocused and breathing heavily. He swallowed several times before he even looked up at Roy and his little brother. The lieutenant colonel looked angry. The teen licked his lips and within moments realised that he had done something he hadn't done in years. He closed his eyes briefly and rubbed them with his real hand.

"I'm glad you're awake, Edward. Took you long enough."

The older man sighed and rubbed his own eyes. He was tired as hell and this whole 'waking-Ed-up' incident had lasted for thirty minutes. He sighed heavily.

"Now that we could get you out of your nightmare I hope we will get another two hours of steadily sleep. Good night. I'm going back to bed."

Roy was about to leave the room as Ed held him back. The young alchemist wasn't looking at him and his cheeks held a nice pink blush. The older man raised his eyebrow and looked down.

"What?" He peeled the hand from his sleeve. "Edward it's really late and Hawkeye will shoot me if I'm not at my best tomorrow – today."

The boy didn't look up yet.

"Al could you – could you get out just f- for a while. I- I need to talk to the lieutenant colonel for a bit."

He licked his lips and waited for the armour to walk out. It was humiliating enough with the dark-haired bastard alone but he didn't need his brother to see that he had done _that _and Al couldn't help him to get fresh bedsheets without Mustang noticing but it worked the other way around. He just hoped the lieutenant colonel wouldn't say anything about it. He didn't mean to do it. He sighed and sat up.

"So what is it what you have to tell me and nearly four in the morning?"

Roy had crossed his arms over his chest and waited growling for the answer. The blond teen looked up. The were a lot of emotions playing in those eyes. But the most outstanding was – fear? He raised an eyebrow but let his arms drop to his sides. Ed looked disgusted as he removed the blanket and stepped out of his given bed. Roy's eyes widened slightly as he saw the wet spot on the teen's boxers and the bed sheet. He would have expected a lot of things – maybe an apology – but this was just enough to make this night _perfect_. He sighed and was glad that he didn't place them with Hughes. He wouldn't survive the speech he would get from his best friend and self-appointed parental substitute for the Elrics. He rubbed his eyes for the hundredth time that night – at least he felt that way and nodded.

He gathered the sheets and blankets together and motioned for Ed to follow him. He put the stained bedding into the washing bin and turned to the teen who was standing behind him with downcast head chewing his bottom lip.

"You should get out of your clothing and shower." He let him into the master bathroom and showed him how the shower worked this late at night when it was hard to get hot water out of it. "Do you have something to change with you?" A single nod was his only answer. "Okay. So take a shower and then come into the master bedroom. As you're bed is', he looked down at the teen, 'dirty you will have to sleep in my bed as well."

He heard Ed breathing hard and got a nod as response. Just as he walked out of the bathroom he was called back.

"Thanks, lieutenant colonel. For – for everything tonight."

Despite himself the young officer smiled and left the teen alone to air the mattress in the guest room. As he was done he walked downstairs where Alphonse was sitting on the couch with his hands resting in his lap. He looked up as he heard somebody coming down the steps.

"Is nii-san alright?"

Roy cam over and nodded.

"He's fine. His nightmare had have some other effects on his body and he wanted to be the cool big brother for you. Nothing to worry about."

"So I can go back upstairs to his room?"

The older man hesitated for a brief moment before he answered the younger Elric with a reasoning smile.

"Well. Actually he asked me if he could sleep in my room. He was cold. Why don't you go into my study and read a book or two until we have to leave for work?"

Al was suspicious at first but forgot it as soon as Roy had mentioned books. The dark-haired man let him into the study where he kept all his alchemy books and journals. He just hoped the boy would find something interesting until they had have breakfast and the older man had cleaned up the guest room.

The armour boy looked at the books and as he found some he was interested in, Roy left him alone. At the time he was upstairs again the shower wasn't running any more and the bath room door stood open. He walked into his own bedroom where a pair of sleepy golden eyes looked up to him. Ed hadn't laid down yet and was still sitting on the edge of the bed. Roy raised an eyebrow.

"Well, I didn't know which side you normally sleep on and I didn't want to take your side.", the teen mumbled and blushed lightly.

Roy just smiled, shook his head and got to the other side of the bed motioning Ed to lay down beside him. The teen's eyes closed nearly the instant his head hit the pillow. He breathed softly and curled up under the blankets. Soon after Roy let himself drift to sleep as well.

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AN.: This chapter plays before Ed got his state title as Fullmetal Alchemist. That's why Roy is calling him Ed instead of Fullmetal.


	2. 2nd time

AN.: I'm sorry for the trouble with the 'Major' thing... I took it out of the chapter so that nobody would stumble over it again .. I'm really sorry...

I hope you enjoy the second chapter. Could you leave a review on the end? I would appreciate it.

**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13/R this chapter, even at 13 Ed can't stop swearing)

Pairing: Roy/Ed

Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

Second Time

"You know what the doctor said. You must not fall asleep.", the younger brother told him again.

Ed sat there growling and his head and arm were aching. He hadn't told Al that he thought he had a fever, too or the younger Elric would have made him stay in that backwater village. He didn't want that. Better being ill in East City than somewhere else. The short blonde sighed heavily. He hadn't forgotten the words Mustang had told him after what had happened to Nina. _You can come to me when you don't have somewhere to stay. It wasn't that bad._ The guy had smirked but Ed had seen something else in his obsidian eyes – honesty, maybe, but also sadness. Over a year had passed since that awful night. They were brought to the dorms and had to stay there. The older Elric couldn't fall asleep that night despite being exhausted and tired. He didn't want Al to notice and faked sleep until a warm hand had touched the back of his head and green eyes looked at him through glasses. Sad but comforting eyes. He hadn't cried in years not even at his mother's funeral but that night he cried until he had no more tears to give and the Major had stayed until Ed had fallen asleep.

The boy let out a breath of cold air. Just twenty minutes to East City and another ten minutes to the dorms. He wouldn't go to the hospital – concussion or not – and even Al couldn't make him go and his younger brother knew that. His eyes nearly dropped close as a big leather hand shook his shoulder and nearly bumped him into the window.

"AL! I'm awake, okay?", the young alchemist shrieked as his nose touched the glass of the window. He didn't need a black eye as well.

"Sorry, Nii-san. But you know what the doctor said. 'You must not - "

"I KNOW what the doc said. 'You must not fall asleep.' I KNOW, okay Al? I won't fall asleep. Not until I have a warm bed to lie in."

The armour gave a clanking sound and sat back on the bench. Something about Al's behaviour made Ed suspicious. His younger brother seemed nervous as if he had done something what Ed wouldn't like. He narrowed his eyes at his younger brother who immediately started to sweat – or showed all signs of it as armour couldn't sweat. The 13-year old narrowed his eyes further and waited for his brother to give away what he was hiding.

As the blonde was ready to climb the armour to shake his younger brother the train stopped at the station and both boys sighed heavily.

"Well, at last we're here.", said the young alchemist and stood up stretching his aching limbs being careful with his left arm and yawned.

The armour stood up as well and got Ed's suitcase and made his way over to the exit, nearly storming out. The older teen arched his eyebrow and followed his younger brother. He stopped dead as he saw the Colonel waiting on the platform – smug smile in place and arms crossed over his chest.

"Good evening, Fullmetal. Welcome back to East City."

"What is good about an evening seeing you standing there?", he muttered and walked down the stairs.

Alphonse was already out of sight and Ed had to deal with the dark-haired bastard on his own. He rolled his eyes. Really, nothing 'good' about an evening meeting him here. Why was he even here? He hadn't to report yet. They were two days early and would have been sooner in East City when Ed hadn't been injured during his assignment. Wait a minute. Could it be? Had Al called him because Al had known that Ed wouldn't go to the hospital as the doctor had instructed and only Mustang could order him to go? The blonde walked up to his commanding officer and narrowed his eyes.

"I'm not going.", he put his hands on his hips and glared at the older man who smirked in return.

"You will and we both and _Hawkeye_ know that you will be going." The raven-haired bastard just _had_ to emphasis this name, right?

Ed huffed and stamped past the dark-haired man. Even when he could ignore Mustang's orders to a certain degree he couldn't deny that he would listen to a certain blond lieutenant and her gun. Said lieutenant was standing in front of a military vehicle and waiting for her commanding officer and Ed. The little blonde sighed and got into the car next to his younger brother. He glared at him, huffed a low 'Traitor' at him but remained silent during the drive to the hospital.

The white building where the hospital was situated in wasn't as big as the main hospital in Central but still big enough for Ed to feel uncomfortable. He had stuffed his hands in his pants' pockets and walked scowling through the entrance hall to the reception. The colonel told the young nurse Ed's name. She blushed, nodded and told them where to go while the teen rolled his eyes and walked after Mustang to get to the examination room they were told. Everything smelled of antiseptics and illness and – death. The blonde didn't like this smell and he had to control himself not to vomit on the hospital floor.

The colonel entered a small room on one of the floors and go into one of the chairs standing there. The teen followed but remained standing and starred at Roy as if the man was something new the teen never had seen before. The dark-haired man arched and eyebrow.

"Something wrong, Fullmetal?"

"Why are you sitting there? It's not you who gets an examination, right? I mean – I'm here, okay? Do you think I'll fuck off while you're driving wherever you're driving after you pretend to work?"

"Actually, I do think that you would 'fuck off' while I'm driving home." He glared at the teen who snorted. "But I noticed that there is more to your condition than you're telling Al."

Ed looked down and bit his bottom lip. This guy will make sure that he will have to stay here. Suddenly the room started to rotate and the young alchemist swayed before he felt himself falling. Just a moment later he opened his eyes again and looked into a blue chest that smelled remarkably like Mustang. He looked up and saw that Roy's mask had slipped from his face. His eyes showed his concern and his arms were cradling the teen's body protectively.

"And you told me to leave you alone.", muttered the older man and stood up dragging the teen with him.

The older man helped Ed onto the examination table so that he wouldn't fall again. He felt so tired and closed his eyes. Two hands were cupping his cheeks and he looked up again.

"Not going to sleep." The dark-haired man sat on the table next to the teen and looked him directly into his eyes. "Look at me until the doctor comes but don't. Go. To Sleep."

"Al told ya, didn't he?" His tongue felt heavy in his own mouth and he sounded like one of the many drunken homeless they had seen on their journeys. The colonel just nodded and his eyes never left the blonde's face.

Minutes later – what felt like hours to Ed – a doctor came in and Roy slipped from the examination table to take a seat next to the end were Ed's head was lying. The dark-haired man restrained the urge to stroke over the teen's head. He had been able to feel Ed's fever under his palms and was impressed that the blonde could still walk. The doctor examined him and sighed heavily. He scribbled something on his chart and rubbed his eyes.

"With the concussion, the hairline fracture in his underarm and the bronchitis he will have to stay here. For at least -', the doctor looked at the calendar hanging next to the door,' a week. Maybe two."

Roy nodded and looked at Ed who was starring at the doctor.

"I see. You said he had a hairline fracture in his underarm – how do you know that without x-raying him?"

The man looked up and scratched his nose with the pen he was holding.

"We called the doctor who first examined the -', he looked at his chart, arched an eyebrow, looked at Ed and than back at Roy, 'Major before he came here. He told us about the hairline fracture and the concussion. But it seems the bronchitis is a side effect from the journey to East City."

Roy nodded again and looked at Ed who was still starring at the doctor as if the man would wondrously say that everything had been a bad dream and that Ed would wake up any minute now in a warm soft bed in his dorm room. The colonel nudged his shoulder and the teen turned his gaze to the older man. He whimpered and got Roy's collar in his right hand.

"Don't make me stay here. You know I hate hospitals." His golden eyes even got bigger with every minute pleading.

Roy laid his own hand over the automail and tried to free his collar. "You're ill, E- Fullmetal and I'm not going to let you stay on your own in the dorms while your brother can't _feel_ your fever."

The grip got firmer and Ed knew one thing what could help him out of this – Roy's offer.

"What about you?"

The colonel arched an eyebrow and looked questionably at the teen.

"What about me? I have nothing to do with this. Even I have to listen to medical orders."

The blonde rolled his eyes. And here he thought Mustang had a bit of understanding.

"I mean your offer. I'm staying with you in your fucking house and you can check on my fucking fever every fucking time you want.", he licked his lips and loosened the grip on the collar but didn't let it go yet.

He could see the colonel thinking about what the teen had just said. When- _If_ he would take care of Ed while he is ill he wouldn't have to go to the office. He looked at the teen and licked his lips. It wasn't so bad the last time and Ed being ill would be even easier than Ed having nightmares – at least he hoped it would be this way. He nodded shortly and the blonde let go of his collar. The older man straightened and looked at the doctor who had watched the agreement silently.

Roy cleared his throat shoot a glance at Ed and asked, "What if I would take him home with me and check on his fever and concussion? Would that be alright with you?"

The teen and his commanding officer were waiting for the answer. The doctor tipped with his pen against his chin. He shrugged and made a note on his chart.

"Well, if you would take him home it would be fine by me. You will have to check on his concussion every hour tonight. We will have to splint his arm just to make sure the hairline fracture is healing perfectly AND you will have to take his medicine with you and make sure that he is taking it. I will see if I can check on him at least every second day."

The smile that slipped on Ed's face nearly cracked his face. The colonel hadn't seen the young alchemist that happy and he had never seen him this happy when it had concerned the colonel bastard himself. Roy cleared his throat and agreed to do as he was told. The doctor left shortly to come back with a nurse and the stuff for making a small cast on Ed's left underarm. It didn't take long.

As they left the lieutenant and Al were still waiting on the parking area for them. Mustang told her what the doctor had said and that he couldn't deny the teen to come home with him and that he, as Ed's commanding officer and guardian, would have to take care of the young blonde. He ended his speech with the words that he was _very_ sorry that he wouldn't be able to come to the office for at least a week and that he would do everything to make it up to his office stuff. The lieutenant just nodded and smiled a very creepy smile and told her commanding officer that when he couldn't make it to the office while taking care of his youngest office member she would make sure that he wouldn't be behind schedule. The colonel whimpered but hadn't have to say anything further.

The house in East City was different from the one Roy had been living in in Central. It was a bit bigger and the Guest room was down the hall instead of opposite the master bedroom on the first floor. That made things a bit difficult as the colonel had to check on the concussion and fever every hour. The couch wasn't too comfortable to sleep on and the guest room was too small to get even a cot in there next to the bed. The dark-haired man sighed heavily as the three of them were standing in the entrance hall. He took Ed's coat and hung it next to his own. The blonde was still giving his little brother glares for calling the older man but refused to call him 'traitor' in every second sentence. Edward walked into the living room with a -for normal people- giant fire place and glanced at the colonel and rolled his eyes. He sat on the couch and leaned his head on the backrest.

"So tell me, Colonel, where is the guest room so I can lie down and sleep. I'm tired as hell and the cast is heavy.", to confirm his tiredness the teen yawned and stretched by arching his back from the backrest and flopping back down.

The raven-haired man had to blink several times before he could think clear enough to answer the teen.

"You're not sleeping in the guest room. You'll sleep in my bed so I don't have to walk too long to check on you."

Again those big golden eyes like that first time when he had offered his own place for the brothers. He sighed and rubbed his eyes. Ed was about to talk as the older man raised his hand to stop the teen.

"I'm not going to argue with you over this. You said I should take you here so you wouldn't have to stay in the hospital. Now you have to listen to me for once or ', Ed was glaring at him, his golden eyes filled with as much hatred as he could muster at this moment, 'you will have to go back to the hospital."

The teen huffed and crossed his arms, as good as the cast would allow, over his chest. He scowled but didn't say anything. He didn't want to go back into the hospital. The smell always made him think of the time his mother had been ill.

"Okay. So where's your damn room? I _am_ tired, you know."

Roy just smirked at this behaviour. This was the Ed he knew so well. He motioned for both brothers to follow him upstairs. The master bedroom was a lot more comfortable as the guest room and even bigger than the one in Central. Ed looked around growled and sat on the edge of the bed. Oversized like the rest of the house was everything he could think of. He pushed the comforter back and was about to lie down as the colonel interrupted him.

"What are you doing?"

The boy glanced over his shoulder at his commanding officer and shrugged.

"I'm going to bed. Told ya I'm tired.", he looked at Roy with his brows knitted and a small pout on his lips.

"No."

"What do you mean 'No.'? I'm lying down. You wanted me to sleep in your bed so what is it now?"

"Yes I told you to sleep in my bed but NOT in your pants. They are – dusty. And that is definitely an understatement."

The teen rolled his eyes, opened his belt and pushed the pants down until they were lying on the ground. Roy looked amassed as the teen crawled back onto the bed and lay under the sheets.

"Better? Or should I take a bath just to lie here in your fucking bed?"

"No. You shouldn't take a bath in your condition but don't you have something to pull over? Pyjamas perhaps? It's not that warm in here."

The teen rolled his eyes then arched his eyebrow.

"I'm normally sleeping in my underwear and when we have to sleep in the open or on the train I leave my pants on. No need for pyjamas when you're on the road. Right, Al?"

The colonel had forgotten about the younger Elric standing in the bedroom as well. He turned around and the younger teen nodded his head.

"He doesn't have pyjamas."

The older man sighed and walked to the closet. He couldn't let Ed sleep in his underwear. The bronchitis hasn't appeared fully yet but sleeping in just his underwear wouldn't help matters. He opened the closet doors and rummaged through different boxes. Both brothers were looking curiously to him until the dark-haired officer pulled something out of the closet and stood up. He turned around and threw the clothes at the blonde. It was an old long-sleeved shirt and some pants. He eyed them wearily and looked up at the older man.

"Why are you throwing your rags at me?"

"Those aren't rags but your new sleeping clothes. They may be too big for you but those are the smallest clothes I have in here and you're not just sleeping in your underwear."

The blonde huffed but got into the shirt and pants. They were way too big for him. Damn abnormal seized bastard. He scowled at the man and got under the sheets pulling them up until only his hair was still visible.

"Good night, Fullmetal. See you in an hour."

Ed didn't answer and the colonel and Al left the bedroom. The older man showed the younger Elric the way to his study. He knew how much those boys loved books. He told the boy that he had new books and that he could read as much as he liked. Alphonse thanked him and pulled a book out of one of the shelves that sounded interesting to him. Roy left him alone and walked back upstairs. He walked over to the small teen who was already snoring under the sheets. He sat next to him and stroked over the small part of the teen's head that was visible.

"You always worry us. Do you know that? I will have to call Hughes to tell him you're ill. I already got a wigging by him because you were so sad after what had happened to Tucker's daughter. I could stop him to get you out of the army because you have goal to reach. He will support you two. He told me as much. And – I will, too." He smiled softly down and laid his hand on the teen's forehead. "Your fever isn't high as it had been before. I just hope this so-called bronchitis won't brake out." He sighed and sat up stretching his tired limbs. "But knowing you I won't be that lucky."

He stood up and got into his sleeping pants and a loose T-Shirt. He got to the the other side of the bed and lay down facing the young blonde. He sighed again. Got his alarm clock and set it for an hour later.

"I just hope you appreciate what I'm doing for you, brat."

He laid down and closed his eyes for sleep to come.

To be honest – it wasn't that bad. The first night went on without any problems. Ed had been grumpy every time he was woken by Roy but remained calm and friendly. It just started to be stressful when Ed started to cough. The boy didn't just cough like any normal kid on this planet. No – he was barking and his whole body was shaking every time he coughed. More than once the colonel thought about bringing him to the hospital just so he could sleep. But this wasn't fair for the boy. So the dark-haired man stood up, helped Ed to sit up and come through the coughing fit. And to top all that he didn't even complain about the paperwork Hawkeye or somebody else of his office stuff was bringing him.

Two weeks later and Ed was healthy again. Despite himself Roy had thought it wasn't bad like that first time. But something had changed and he didn't know if he wanted that change at all...

AN: Thanks for reading


	3. 3rd time

So I'm back with the third part of the story... Sorry for the delay but I had a lot of things to do and didn't have the time to write it down... I mean I have the whole story planed including the ending (what some of you won't like) ... I still hope you will read on ^^ Please read and review ^^

* * *

**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

* * *

~ Third Time ~

The young colonel sat behind his desk and starred at the list. Fifty new cadets for the East and every single one of them required a dorm room. He sighed and tried to find some place for them. Due to an 'accident' (and Fullmetal wasn't even involved – think about that) there were over 20 rooms missing.

Suddenly the door opened and a blue-clad person entered with something in red following behind. Roy looked up and scowled immediately.

"Heeya, Roy. Look who I have found on the train." Hughes shoved the little blonde into the middle of the room. The teen was unusually quiet for being treated like a child and being in one room with his CO. The dark-haired man sighed and straightened up.

"Hughes, you know I'm _working_ here. Can't you annoy somebody else?" He looked at Ed who still hadn't looked up. "You, Fullmetal, can hand me your report and sit on the couch."

The teen sighed heavily, threw his report on the desk and sat heavily on one of the office couches. Roy hadn't seen the young alchemist this depressed in a long time. The assignments he got weren't always good ones. Normally they were bad – really bad. But there wasn't anybody here who could do what Fullmetal could do. The older alchemist swallowed shortly and turned his eyes to the hardly legible report. There were small brownish spots on the paper and he didn't even want to know what these were. He knew that Ed probably wrote it on the train to be done here as soon as possible. He sighed and started reading.

Hughes in the meantime had taken a seat on the couch next to Ed eyeing the teen. He had already spotted the patch on the blonde's forehead – it was hardly small – and had seen the small bandage around the left wrist. He would give anything to get the boy out of this military. He didn't belong here – it was an adult's world and the teen should enjoy his childhood. But on the other hand Hughes knew that Ed couldn't have a normal childhood – he had to right was he had done wrong in the past. The blonde wouldn't enjoy a childhood without Al being in a human body again. Hughes sighed and leaned his head back on the backrest.

Time seemed to stand still as the three of them sat there in silence. Roy had taken a magnifying glass out of one of his drawers – Ed had seen it and just rolled his eyes while Maes snickered next to the teen but was silenced in seconds through the intense glare directed at him.

After nearly a hour – it had felt like five – Roy stretched and stated that he was done reading the report. He didn't ask questions about information which Ed had repressed for the teen's sake. He knew he could ask him later in his dorm room without the nosy major. Wait. Dorm room? Roy growled what earned him a suspicious look from Ed and Hughes. He had forgotten about the problems with the dorm rooms and the cadets. So he just could do what he had done twice before. Offer the teen – and his best friend of course – his own home. He sighed heavily and crammed through the top drawer and got his spare keys out.

"We... had a small accident here with the dorms. You will be staying with me again. So you can get your brother and your suitcase and let Havoc drive you there." Roy threw the keys at Edward who caught them easily. Hughes looked up at his friend and the Colonel knew that he wanted to talk to him. He nodded once and let his breath out. "You're dismissed, Fullmetal. See you in the evening."

The teen stood up and made his way outside to where his brother and Mustang's subordinates were talking. The armour noticed the small blonde and straightened up from his position next to Havoc. "Ah, Nii-san, are you done with the colonel?"

Ed nodded briefly and walked over to Havoc and the rest of them. He showed him the keys and scowled. "Bastard wants us to stay in his house while we're here. Some accident in the dorms he says. You should drive us there." Havoc looked at the keys, twirled his toothpick and shrugged. The tall blonde got up and walked with the young teen to the parking area. On their way there they could see the damage on one of the dorm buildings. A wall had a huge hole and parts of the surrounding walls were pitch-black. Some men were still cleaning the ground and others were discussing how they would repair the building. Al had stopped and looked over. He knew that he could help them because he was strong and he didn't need sleep. The younger Elric looked over to his frowning elder brother. He shuffled his feet on the tiling. Ed looked at him and understood immediately. His younger brother wanted to help them – he just was this kind of a person. The teen shrugged.

"I don't mind if you want to help them. But take care, okay. Don't want to see you hurt." Al nodded his helmet and gave the suitcase to his elder brother before he ran over to the men. Ed smiled and looked after him – he really didn't know sometimes why he was the one who had been 'allowed' to keep his body. Al was so much nicer than him, such a better human being than Ed. He shook his head. This was not the time to think something like that. He sighed and ran up to Havoc who was already standing next to the car. The ride to the Colonel's home was quiet. Ed didn't want to talk and Havoc was intelligent enough to not question him.

Later that day after Hawkeye had allowed Roy to go home – not because he was finished but Hughes was annoying them with his photographs – the two older men entered Mustang's house. It was quiet and there was no light on in the living room or kitchen. They got out of their coats and boots and walked inside. Hughes switched the light on and took a seat on the large couch in front of the unlighted hearth while Roy walked around his house to find his youngest subordinate. It didn't take him long before he found the teen lying in the guest bed under the pile of comfortable blankets. He sighed at the sight and turned around to make his way back to the living room. He was careful to close the door quietly. He didn't want the teen to wake up – not after he had seen him sleeping so peacefully.

Hughes was staring at the wood in the fire place. He frowned and seemed to be far away with his thoughts or maybe not so far away. Maybe Roy knew exactly what or better about whom his best friend was thinking. Maes had told him about the bandage on Ed's left wrist and what he assumed the teen must have done. He had starred at the major for a long time before he had swallowed and shaken his head. _Ed isn't that kind of person._, he had assured Hughes, _He wouldn't do something like that. He always thinks about Al and that wouldn't help Al at all._ He just didn't know if he told Hughes that because he wanted to convince his friend or himself.

The young colonel lightened the fire with one of his gloves he still wore and took a seat next to Hughes who had relaxed a bit. "How is he?", the older man asked but didn't look away from the fire. "He's asleep and fine. At least he seems to be. He must be exhausted from the journey." Roy slipped out of his gloves and laid them next to him on the arm rest. He sighed heavily and rubbed the bridge of his nose. Hughes had always been all about family. He had found himself a wonderful wife, had a sweet daughter and had adopted the Elrics as his sons – at least in his mind they were his sons. He wouldn't dare to ask them now if they would want a family again – not before they both had a body. He knew that this would be wrong and would scare Ed away. Al was different but wouldn't take that offer. Roy knew this and he knew that Hughes already asked somebody in the youth welfare office what conditions there would be if he wanted to adopt a child. If he ever doubted his friend was making a joke he would think about it otherwise from today on.

Hughes stood up and stretched. "We should eat something and go to bed as well." He put his glasses down and rubbed his eyes. After he was done he said in a seducing voice "I'm looking forward to cuddle with you." He smirked at the surprised colonel and his grin even widened. "You don't want me to sleep on your very **very** uncomfortable couch, do you?" Roy couldn't do anything but smile in return. At least the mood was lifted a bit. Goofy idiot. He just hoped the cuddling was a joke. He shook his head and walked into the kitchen to eat whatever his friend would cook them. To be honest Hughes wouldn't even try to eat what Roy had cooked. He had done it once and that ended in the hospital with food poisoning.

Hours later the young colonel made his way down to the living room with a spare blanket and a pillow. Hughes didn't intend to cuddle with him but he snored very loudly. Roy had stayed in his bedroom for two hours with a snoring Maes and had hoped from minute to minute that the man would stop snoring. But he wasn't that lucky tonight. He sighed and soon stood in the living room with the a small fire burning in the hearth and a blond alchemist starring into said fire. He paused a moment to take in the sight. The fire light was reflecting in the golden eyes and the boy was flushed from the heat coming from the fire in front of him. His blond hair was loose and he was cuddled in a warm blanket from the guest room. Roy couldn't deny the warm feeling spreading through his body as he watched the small alchemist. He cleared his throat and willed the thoughts – very inappropriate thoughts – away and advised his presence to the boy.

As the blonde looked up he looked very tired. His golden eyes were suddenly much too old for his face. Roy sighed and laid the blanket and pillow on the couch. The teen still eyed him suspiciously as if Roy would attack him any moment now. The dark-haired man sat on the couch and looked at the younger alchemist. "Couldn't sleep with Hughes snoring next to me. Why are you awake at this hour, Fullmetal?" The blonde narrowed his eyes and searched his commanding officer's face. He shrugged and looked down. "Was wide awake after going to bed early. Didn't know what to do else."

Roy nodded and patted the couch next to him motioning for the teen to sit next to him. Ed looked up, eyed the couch rolled his eyes but got up from the floor and sat next to Roy. They both were looking into the fire in silence. The older man glanced at the younger alchemist next to him. The blanket had slipped down from his shoulders and the colonel could see the bandage around the youth's wrist and underarm. "Care to tell me what happened to your arm?"

The teen looked up to his commanding officer and then to his left arm. He bit his lip and starred in the fire. After some moments he broke the silence, "I... It was an accident. There was this young girl, we lived with her family, and it was dark and there was a thunder storm. She was all alone in her big fancy room when the light went out. Her parents were out to some silly town thing and we promised to take care of her." He sighed and closed his eyes. "I went to her room to see if she was alright and she had the scissors and thought I was a thief or kidnapper or something. She didn't know it was _me_." He licked his lips and opened his eyes. "Well it was dark and I didn't know at that time that she had scissors and before any of us knew what was going on my left arm was bleeding like hell. Just seconds after that incident the light went on again. She saw me and I saw all the blood. She started to cry and scream and I didn't know what was going on." He leaned his head back on the back rest. "Al came in and he saw the blood and he got some clothes to make it stop bleeding. I didn't think of it. I just felt the warm blood running down my arm and onto the floor." He straightened up again and looked in the fire again. "They called the town's doc and he stitched it up and bandaged it." He turned his head to look at Roy who had gone pale from Ed's story. "I... you thought I had done that to myself, didn't you?" He didn't get an answer to his suspicion. The teen licked his lips again and touched his chest with his left hand. "This body belongs to Al. Until the day he has his own body back he is allowed to tell me how to live or to live at all. I lost his body. It's equivalent exchange. He doesn't do it but he knows it anyway. I'm not going to kill myself... even when I have considered it before..."

The last part was mumbled and Roy had to listen very hard to understand it. His eyes had gone wide. The boy was 14 years old. He shouldn't think about something like that. He put his head into his hands and rubbed them. The colonel felt guilty and he knew that Hughes was right. The kid didn't belong into the military. But what else could he do? He already had promised to protect the young alchemist on his way to his goal. He sighed and straightened up. Ed shouldn't see him like that. "We should sleep now. It's already late. We both have to work in the morning." The teen snorted. "Yeah as if you would ever work properly." Roy rolled his eyes and got his blanket and the pillow from the couch and walked towards his guest room with Ed right behind him.

"Where are you going?" Edward's voice sounded a bit stressed and the teen could see where the colonel was walking. The older man smirked and looked over his shoulder. "I'm going to sleep with you in the guest room. I won't hear Hughes snoring this way." He opened the door and made his way over to the bed where he lay his pillow and blanket down. The blonde was starring at him with dark red cheeks and something in his eyes what the older man couldn't place right away.

"A... And where should I sleep? I mean you _offered_ this room to me. You can't just take it back and make me sleep on the couch or on the floor." Was the teen nervous to lie – and sleep – in the same bed as the colonel? Roy raised an eyebrow. "The bed is big enough for the two of us. It isn't the first time we slept in one bed anyway." The dark-haired alchemist laid down and stretched out under the blanket. Reluctantly the young blonde got into the bed as well and tried to lie as far away from the older man as possible.

In the morning, however, the two alchemists were found lying in each others arm sleeping peacefully. Hughes looked at them and decided to have a serious word with his best friend about the choosing his, well, bed partners.

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Well, like to review? Please ^^


	4. 4th time

AN: and part 4 of the story.. enjoy XD Would you leave a review at the end? that would be nice ^^

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**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

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~ Fourth Time ~

Maes tried to occupy himself with making coffee and preparing some breakfast for the three of them. Alphonse had called earlier and let him know that he will be helping until the late afternoon. The armour-boy was happy that his brother was still sleeping. Being the whirl wind the older Elric was, he didn't like to slow down or sleep at all. _I don't have the time!_, was something the boy often said. Hughes had heard him saying it in the office to Roy. Roy... Hughes sighed heavily. He hadn't seen the younger man so peaceful since he had been back from Ishbal. Always on the run to get another promotion and going out with women who where normally pretty young ladies from the Central upper class but sometimes those women where... spies. Roy's life wasn't easy and mostly those women thought too high of him – or better they thought too high of his position.

The dark-haired man watched the coffee running through the coffee machine. But what were his intentions towards Edward? The boy was just that – a boy of 14 years who had seen more than he should have at his age. He got three coffee mugs from the top shelf. He would ask Roy about this. Maybe not with Ed in the same room but he would ask him sooner or later and he would make sure it was sooner. Maes knew that Roy had been with men before – but those guys had been old enough to drink at least and it had happened before Ishbal and Roy had been discreet – very discreet – about it. He rolled his shoulders and turned around. He hadn't seen the mug standing so near the edge. It crushed on the floor and sent porcelain fragments through the whole kitchen. The major knelt down and started to pick up some of the splints around him. He tried to pick up a rather big one but let it fall down again as he cut his finger on it. Some blood was running down the finger and the dark-haired man cursed under his breath. He sucked the red liquid from his digit and walked over to the sink where he let cold water run over it. He hadn't even heard the other person walking through the house.

"You know there is a broom and a dustpan under the sink? You don't need to hurt yourself in this house." Maes glared at the other man standing on the threshold rubbing his sleepy eyes. He turned back to take a closer look at his finger. The bleeding had already stopped and you couldn't see any more that there had been a cut. He turned off the water and dried his hands on the dish towel. The colonel had made his way over to the sink and got a new mug out of his shelf and purred coffee in two of the three mugs. He took a seat on the kitchen table and yawned. Maes took a seat opposite his friend and sipped his coffee.

From time to time the older man looked over to his younger friend and wanted to start the conversation he _had_ to have with the colonel. But every time he looked over he didn't know how to break it to the man who wasn't even aware of his own behaviour – at least it seemed this way. As the dark-haired alchemist yawned again, he couldn't wait any longer.

"How was your night, Roy?" Sharp green eyes were looking into the dark obsidian pools of his best friend. He couldn't suppress the anger in his voice and was angry at himself that it was obviously that something was wrong with him. Roy arched an eyebrow and took another sip from his coffee. "Until you decided to snore _very_ loudly it was rather nice. Even Ed heard you and he was downstairs." Wrong answer Mr. Mustang. He could see Hughes' eyes darkening. He hadn't done anything wrong, had he? "Maes?" He was curious what his friend had seen or believed he had seen. Maybe... Oh. Hughes must have seen him and Ed in the guest bed together.

It had been rather nice to wake up with a mouth full of golden hair and the young alchemist sleeping in his arms. He hadn't thought about Hughes who could have been awake and searching Roy in the house because he wasn't sleeping next to him. He sighed and put the mug on the table. The younger male scratched his hair and looked at Hughes who still was starring at him and hadn't said a word. "You have seen me and Ed in the guest room." No need to deny that and no need to question Maes. "Maes, there wasn't anything. I just didn't want to sleep on the sofa or the floor and I couldn't come back to you, 'cause as I said, you were snoring very loudly. And..." He looked away and rubbed his eyes. He sighed heavily.

"And... what, Roy? Do you want to tell me that he's attractive and growing into a beautiful young man? Are you attracted to him? Damn, Roy, he's 14! Fourteen years old and shouldn't even be here!" Hughes slammed his fists on the table so hard that some of his coffee landed on the table. "I will not deny that he _is_ attractive for his age and I won't deny the fact that he _will_ grow into a beautiful young man. But Roy think about it. He is half your age." Was his voice really sounding like he pleaded Mustang to stop something? He didn't know. He just knew that he would do everything for Ed – his _son_ as soon as the boy will allow it.

He swallowed and looked at Roy whose face was unreadable. The younger man bit his bottom lip and shook his head. "It's nothing like that, Maes." His voice was low and even Hughes hadn't heard him talking this quietly before. "He.. Full.. Edward is attractive but as you said he is 14 years old and I would never -never Maes – start anything with the kid. He's just a kid for me, Maes. A subordinate as well but a kid most of the time and I'm not allowed to even think about him as a kid when he's standing in front of me or anybody else from the military. There he is a soldier. He enlisted to right what he had done wrong and..." Those dark eyes directed at the older male. "... you should start to think of him as a soldier as well. Because, Maes, Major Elric is not your son – not yet – and as long as he isn't your son he will do what the military tells him as hard as this sounds to you. But I'm telling you this as a friend and for the boy's sake."

The colonel sipped his coffee again and turned his gaze towards the other wall of the kitchen. Hughes stood up emptied his coffee into the sink and walked out of the kitchen. Had Roy even listened to himself? At first he's telling him that he sees Ed as a kid and the next minute he talks about 'the kid' as a soldier and that he, Maes, should think about Ed this way as well. He shook his head. He wanted to punch something very badly. The dark-haired man sat on the couch and put his head into his hands. He sighed heavily and tried to will the headache - forming in his head – away. He leaned back on the sofa and looked towards the kitchen where Ed was standing next to the door looking to the floor. Had Roy seen or heard the boy while he hadn't? He opened his mouth to say something but decided against it. He let his gaze wander over the blond figure. He was so small but muscular at the same time. He hadn't a boy's stature but one of a man who had a lot experience in fighting. Maes swallowed again. Roy was right. The boy wasn't a 'kid' any more. He had given up being a kid when he was twelve. The thought alone made the older man shiver. Edward had more live experience than all of his peers and most of the men in the military – more than Maes himself.

He sighed and leaned back again. He patted the couch quietly so Roy wouldn't hear him but Ed would. The major still didn't know if Roy knew that Ed was here and didn't want the younger officer to know. The youth walked over and sat next to the older man but didn't look up. "How much did you hear?" It took some moments before the blonde answered. "From the line on where he declared that I'm just a kid for him." The young alchemist sounded sad about what Roy had said. But Maes didn't know if it was about being told to be 'a kid' or that Roy didn't have any feelings for the boy others than that Ed was his subordinate _and_ a kid.

The older man crossed his arms over his chest – to suppress the urge to lie an arm around Ed's shoulders – and sighed. "I'm sorry that you had to listen to our argument but I'm surprised that you didn't storm into the kitchen to tell him off." Edward snorted and let his feet dangle shortly over the carpet. "At first I wanted to go in and punch him for calling me a kid but..." He licked his lips. "...there was something holding me back. I don't even know what it was. It just _hurt_." He looked up at the surprised major. "Major, do you know what it was? I mean I never felt something like that. I mean I _know_ how it feels to get stabbed or being punched or something like that. But I don't know what this _feeling _was." He said the word 'feeling' as if it would hurt him physically and in some ways it was hurting him. Hughes didn't know what to tell the youth. Here he thought he had a problem with Roy but that Ed had feelings for his friend and didn't even know he had them. He closed his eyes and smiled then started to laugh. He shook his head and tears were forming at the corner of his eyes. Edward was frowning at him and didn't know what to do – to stop the man from laughing at him.

Suddenly water was running over his face and Ed was standing next to Roy who still had a bucket in his hands. The younger officer frowned but refused to say anything to his friend. Hughes looked at Ed and his eyes softened. He stood up and walked over to the boy pulling him into a tight embrace. He leaned down and kissed the blond head before he made his way to the bathroom to dry himself.

It was the day after that Maes took the train back to Central. He had a very long – and for the teen - embarrassing talk with Ed about sexuality and feelings and sex itself where he had assured the boy that he would find out what that feelings was he had spoken about. Hughes just hoped that it would take longer than bringing Al back and longer than reaching the age of being legal. He sighed as he looked out of the window to say good bye to Roy who was standing on the platform. "Sorry for what happened yesterday. But you know what I feel for the boy – for both of them." He fell silent for some moments and looked into the dark eyes of his friend. "But let me tell you one thing: If you ever intend to do something to Ed and hurt him I will be there and show you what kind of father he has in me." The train's whistle blew and the older man saluted to the younger higher ranking officer. "Take care of you and be good to Ed." There was something else lingering behind these words but Roy didn't dare to ask what it was. The train made his way slowly out of the Central main station. Roy stood there and waited until he couldn't see it any more. He wasn't good at lying to his friend and he knew that as well as Maes knew it...

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AN: review? please? thanks a lot ^^


	5. 5th time

AN.: Sorry for the delay.. I had tons of work to do... exams weren't easy.. but now I'm back ^^ Oh and I decided that Two Colonels will be a multi chapter story.. So I try to upload chapter 3 soon... Just for the people who have read it ^^

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**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

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~Fifth Time ~

He felt so heavy but comfortable at the same time. He could really lie here and sleep. It wouldn't disturb anybody, would it? The papers that got crumbled under his face weren't that important. Just something about tiles and painting and what else was standing there? He couldn't remember. He let his breath out in a sigh. His breath smelled odd. He couldn't remember what he had eaten that day but it didn't smell healthy at all. He turned his face and moaned quietly. What had he done before his head fell to the desk? He screwed his eyes shut and tried to remember. Suddenly he felt a cold hand on his forehead. He could barely look up to the one kneeling (_what?_) on his desk next to him. He looked up to the swaying person in front of his vision. It was yellow – no it had yellow hair and two golden things were directed at him – eyes maybe? He groaned loudly and tried to sit up but was entirely too heavy for that. He closed his eyes again and laid his head back on the desk. This felt much better.

Just minutes later he heard a door open and close and saw that something/-body blue was standing next to something/-body red. He really should be able to piece the information together but everything was just too heavy. Too much work and not worthy to get up from his spot on the desk. He heard them talking. He was sure that his name was in there as well. Just moments after he heard that the blue called for somebody and another something/-body in blue was coming inside. He was hauled off from his position and dragged somewhere else. The second something/-body in blue carried him piggyback style through dark and cold halls. Funnily enough he was glad that he couldn't spot any other person in blue and he didn't know why.

He grunted as he was sat into something that smelled of leather and fuel. Where was he? Did he even care? To be honest: No. He didn't care where he was he just wanted to go back to sleep. He leaned his head on, what he presumed, was the headrest and sighed happily. Then there was something warm next to him. He turned his head and open his eyes. Again that red thing with the yellow hear and two golden things in the middle. He should really find out what this was. He reached his hand out to brush it against the red thing but he was stopped by something cold on his wrist. He let his hand drop into his lap and closed his eyes again.

He woke again as light was shining in his eyes. It felt much too bright but at least he was somewhat clearer than he had been before. His head was still too heavy but at least he could open his eyes. He sat up in his bed and looked around. This was his bedroom but how did he get there? He remembered going to work and reading some reports about the fresh painted walls and the new tiles in Eastern Headquarters. He remembered feeling ill and having an headache but what else did happen? Had it been a dream and now he was running late for work? He turned around to find his alarm clock. It read 1 o'clock. Looking out of the window he knew that it was 1 in the afternoon. But how long had he slept and who had brought him home? He lifted the heavy comforter lying over him and stepped out of his bed. He still wore his military pants and his white button down shirt. So the one bringing him home didn't change his clothes. He shrugged and made his way out of his bedroom towards the stairs. He could smell that something was being cooked down there, he just couldn't quite say what it was. It just smelled good.

He walked silently over to his kitchen and took a look inside. Ed was sitting on one of his kitchen chairs with his feet crossed on the kitchen table reading what looked like a cookbook and chewing an apple. The kid looked up from his book and eyed the pot on the stove. As it wasn't boiling or making other disturbing noises he went back to read his cookbook. The teen looked up at he felt the other person in the kitchen. He eyed the colonel who was still standing in the entryway. He took his feet from the table and sat up slowly. He took one last bite from his apple and threw the remaining stern into the waste bin.

"So ya decided to wake up sleeping beauty?" He stood up and stretched. His black top rode up a bit and his navel could be seen. Roy did everything he could not to stare but failed miserably. "You're starring, Mustang.", the teen informed him and walked up to him. The young colonel looked down into two bright golden eyes (So that were the golden things!) and raised an eyebrow before a warm and soft hand landed on his forehead. "You're still running a fever. You shouldn't be up. Doc said that it was close to a pneumonia and you jerk didn't even notice it, did you?" Roy made a good fish impression at that very moment. He let slip a lot of the things the boy said but 'jerk'? Did this kid even know who Mustang was and what exactly commanding officer meant? He scowled and was about to say something as the front door opened and a clanking armour entered his house.

"I bought the lemons for the tea, Nii-san and... Oh hello, colonel. I'm glad you're awake again. You should really take care of your health. It is not good to work while knowing that you're ill. It will just get worse." Al was always the polite of the two brothers. Maybe he got the whole 'Eric-Politeness' and Ed had to live without it. Roy mentally shrugged and greeted the younger brother. The blonde took the paper bag from the armour and escaped with it into the kitchen. Roy looked after him but was startled when he heard that Al was already moving to the front door again.

"Alphonse? Why are you going back outside?" The older man was curious now. The teen turned around and inclined his helmet a bit. "I'm not staying here with you. Brother is taking care of you and I have my own assignment from lieutenant Hawkeye. You see, there are a lot of ill people around and I'm the delivery boy for medicine and stuff. They need me out there. I think Brother is able to do what he's told." The younger Elric bowed politely and left Roy standing there in his living room looking at his closed front door.

The older man turned around again as he heard how Ed cleared his throat. The teen was scowling at him – nothing new there – but he also looked sad. Roy arched an eyebrow and waited for Ed to say something. The blonde had been this way since the day Maes had been with them and he and his best friend had an argument about handling Ed the right way – as the soldier he was and not like a kid. What Roy hadn't told Maes that morning was that he knew that he had feelings for the teen and that said teen was standing outside listening to them. But he assumed that Hughes knew anyway. He sighed but this turned into a coughing fit. He hadn't felt ill as he woke up but know he thought he was coughing his lungs out of his body. He slumped down and nearly passed out as he felt a cold hand dragging him to his feet and getting him to the sofa where he relaxed a bit.

"Told ya you shouldn't be up." muttered the teen as he rubbed lazy circles on the colonel's back. Roy felt heavy again and could go to sleep here next to his Ed. Wait a minute. Since when was Ed his Ed? He shook his head and tried to stand up again but a cold metal hand pressed him into the couch cushions and a warm blanket was dragged around and over him. Concerned golden eyes were looking down at him and he closed his eyes when he felt the warm hand again on his forehead. "Soft..." was all he could say before the blackness engulfed him.

He woke again hours later. He was still lying on his couch with his comforter draped around him and a fire going in the hearth. He sat up slowly and looked around trying to figure out what time it was and where _(the hell)_ Edward was. He didn't need to look long. The small alchemist was asleep on the armchair curled under a blanket. Just there, on the older man's armchair, he looked even younger than the 15 years he was old. Roy sighed softly and leaned against the headrest of his couch. He touched his forehead and decided that his fever was gone. He looked to Ed again and then smirked. He stood up and made his way to his bathroom. As he walked by the teen he was held back by the strong left arm of his youngest subordinate. He swallowed audibly and looked down into two tired golden eyes.

"Don't even think about it, Mustang." The teen let the blanket fall to the ground and stretched as good as he could while he still held onto Mustang so that the older man couldn't escape. He licked his lips and looked around until he found a clock to find out how late it was. The old grandfather clock on the opposite wall showed 4 in the morning and Ed rubbed his temple with the Automail hand. "You couldn't have waited until it was late enough to start a proper breakfast, could you?" He looked up at Roy and blinked his eyes several times. He was still too tired to think properly but not tired enough to overhear Mustang's attempt to get out of the living room and – he presumed – into the bathroom to take a shower. Really, did the bastard think he was walking quietly? If yes he should think about taking lessons in creeping silently.

Ed let go of Roy's shirt and leaned up (damn freaking tall bastard) and laid his hand again on the forehead. He scowled but soon his hand left the colonels forehead. "You fever has broken. That's something good. At least you won't look at me like I was something alien any more." Roy raised his eyebrow – he felt the sticky hear on his forehead and that was not appealing – and looked at Ed to get an answer for his last statement. The younger alchemist just rolled his eyes and walked over to the kitchen. Roy shrugged and walked in the direction of his bathroom again until he was stopped – again – by the teen.

"What now? I'm sweaty, Fullmetal and I stink. I need a shower as do you." Ed blushed at the last part but scowled up at the older man. "Not until you have at least eaten something." The raven haired man looked surprised at the teen. He blinked and followed the teen into the kitchen where the blonde had already started the soup from the afternoon again. He sighed and took a closer look at the teen. The blond hair was loose from its braid and hung to the younger male's mid back. It really didn't look nice as sweaty as it was. The black top clung to Ed's body like a second skin. Just his leather pants were the way they used to be. The older man looked up again before the teen could inform not to stare at his ass. It was a beautiful little tight ass. Roy really envied Ed for his ass and he knew several women who would do everything for such an ass and such beautiful hair (when it wasn't hanging down like an old rag used to mop the floor).

He sighed and looked out of his window. It was so quiet outside that one wouldn't think there was a big city out there. He looked back to Ed who was busy getting bowls out of one kitchen cabinet. Without thinking he told the teen what he thinking about just minutes ago: "You know we could take a bath together." The clattering of porcelain hitting the kitchen floor brought him back to his senses. The older man looked into a bright red face and big golden eyes.

"No. Don't even... NO!" the blonde told the older alchemist and turned around again. Roy did the only thing he could think of and questions Ed motives. "Why not, Edward? We are both men and have the same attachment unless you and the doctor making your yearly examination have lied to me." It was meant as a playful banter, really. He didn't think that Ed would be so flustered about something as simple as taking a bath together. But the teen was beet red and his lips were an angry line. "Edward?" Roy raised both eyebrows and tried to make something out of Ed's behaviour. Had he gone too far? But the teen didn't respond. He just got the soup into the bowls and placed one in front of the older man. He leaned back on the kitchen cabinet and sipped his own soup. Roy sighed and ate his soup.

As he was done he stood up and put his bowl in the sink. Ed was still leaning on the kitchen cabinet looking into his bowl. Roy reached out to get the blonde back to reality but Ed was so deep in thoughts that he hadn't seen Roy standing up or staying beside him. As he felt the touch of the older man's hand on his arm he spun around and the last remains of his soup landed on Roy's shirt. They both looked at each other before Roy found the voice to speak again. "Am I now allowed to take a shower? You don't expect me to go back to bed with soup on my shirt, do you?" Ed looked from the stained shirt to Roy's face and swallowed. "I... Sure. Just go." Roy sighed and walked out of the kitchen as Ed called him back. "I'm sorry. I haven't seen you... I..." A smile on Roy's lips ended Ed's words. "It's okay, Edward. You really don't want to join me?" The teen blushed furiously and threw a dish towel after the colonel.

After his shower he dressed in his pyjamas and made his way back to the living room. Ed was sitting on his couch with his hair still dripping from his own shower and some slacks and an old t-shirt on. "So you found _and_ used the guest bathroom." Not even close a question and the only answer he got was a grunt and the rolling of Ed's eyes. It was half past 5 and the sun was rising in the East. The older man looked down at Ed. Next to the teen was a blanket and a pillow lying. Roy inclined his head. "What are the blanket and the pillow for? You don't want me to sleep down here again, do you?" Ed looked at the dark eyed man and rolled his eyes again. He looked back at the fire in the hearth before he answered."No. You can go upstairs into your bedroom. I'm staying down here if someone calls." It was a blunt lie and Roy could see through it. "There won't be any calls." Roy's calm voice made Ed look up again. "How would you know that? Are you the fortune-telling alchemist or something?" The scowl on the beautiful face deepened but Roy wasn't about to give up just yet. "No, I'm not. But I can tell you that Hawkeye prefers home visits over calling and Hughes won't call until he has the 'yes' by Hawkeye." He sat next to Ed. "So, why don't you want to sleep upstairs in the guest room with the comfortable bed and multiple pillows?"

The teen blushed slightly and slung his arms around his knees. He mumbled something inaudibly and scowled back at the fire. "What was that,Edward?" The teen turned crimson and looked away. "I said I can't sleep alone." He turned his head back to the fire and swallowed. "Normally Al is with me and even before... before we did.. this... I never have slept alone... and when I'm here Al isn't with me and the cracking of the fire kind of reminds me of the cracking of Al's armour and I can sleep here. That's... all."

The teen didn't look up but he felt the colonel's eyes on him. Roy looked from the teen to the fireplace. In the end it made sense. The last time he was here, Ed was too exhausted to think about falling asleep but then in the middle of the night he woke up and couldn't go back to sleep. That's why he went into the living room and started a fire. The older man laughed silently at Ed's exclamation. He shook his head, stood up and held his hand out. Ed regarded the offered hand with a deep frown. "My bed is big enough for the two of us. You wouldn't sleep alone and you can check on me on the same time." The teen thought about it. Why not taking the offer? It wasn't the first time and he could check on the colonel. He shrugged and stood up as well. "Okay. Fine. But I'm just sleeping in your bed to make sure you won't have a relapse." Roy nodded and gestured Ed to walk to the bedroom. They both were nearly asleep before their heads hit the pillow.

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AN.: Review? Please?


	6. 6th time

It has been a long time that I updated this... I am sorry for that... I hope you can forgive me.... *pleades to readers*

As some of you may notice... There had been something wrong with my message system... I *hope* it works again.. if not.. send me a PM or go to my LJ (tenshishanai(dot)livejournal(dot)com) and leave a message there if you want ^^

Now have fun reading

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**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

~Sixth Time~

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Roy felt the person lying next to him. His warmth was radiating from his body. He reached one hand out to pat the teen next to him in his bed. But there wasn't the young blonde in his bed but somebody with a scratchy military uniform who sighed deeply as Roy patted his knee. The colonel's eyes flew open and he looked at his hand still resting on the knee in blue military pants. He swallowed deeply and pulled his hand back. He knew exactly who was sitting in his bed with his boots still on. He hadn't the courage to look up just yet.

"We both know that you're awake so you could at least say 'Good morning'."

"Good morning."

The older man snorted but didn't move from his place. Roy turned on his back and looked up at his oldest friend. Hughes mouth was a thin line and he was playing with one of his knives. Roy didn't know what to say and just starred at Maes who had no intention to look at him. The younger man sat up and stretched. He felt pretty good for someone who had been ill just a day ago.

"I thought we already had this discussion, Roy."

The colonel looked to Hughes and raised an eyebrow.

"Discussion?"

The knife missed him by mere centimetres and he knew that if Hughes had intended to wound him he would have done.

"Don't play dumb with me, Roy. I'm not in the mood for it, not at all."

Hughes' voice was calm but you could hear the anger behind it and Roy did good at not fuelling the fire even more. He swallowed and looked at his lap.

"There wasn't anything between us. He was just sleeping here with me because he said he can't sleep alone."

"So now it's all Ed's fault?! He wanted to sleep with you because he couldn't sleep alone? He's 15, Roy. 15 for God's sake!"

"I know how old he is!" Roy snapped and couldn't suppress his own anger any longer. What did Maes think of him? That he was some child molester trying to get Ed in his bed? What the hell? Hughes looked at him – his eyes cold and angry.

"So when you know how old he is can you tell me what he's doing with those books in the library?"

Now Roy thought that Maes had gone insane. He raised an eyebrow again and searched his friend's face to find the joke behind his question.

"He's reading them? That's what books are for, Maes. I don't know..."

"Yes you don't know. He's reading about all that. About that whole gender thing and what he's feeling for you and you give him hope by inviting him in your bed and he's reading more books on it and gets to know that it is wrong."

Roy couldn't follow him any more. What was Hughes talking about? Books and feelings? He knitted his brows and watched as Maes struggled not to punch him in his face.

"I already talked to him about sexuality that there is no right or wrong when you're in love. But.. but now..." The older man put his glasses down and rubbed his temples. "He has read about being gay and that it is wrong and now he thinks he is worse than before he knew he was gay." The Lieutenant Colonel's voice was low. He knew that it wasn't really Roy's fault that Ed thought bad of himself. He had done that before – mostly because of the sin he had committed. And now of the 'ultimate' sin – loving another man and not a girl. Maes rubbed his eyes. He heard Roy swallow loudly.

"And how exactly is that my fault?"

Maes shook his head.

"It's not. I.. I just wanted to find somebody I could scream at for all the things the kid has to go through." He leaned back an let his head rest on the backrest of Roy's bed. "I don't know.. what I should tell him. He asked me and told me in the same breath that he knows that it is wrong." He sighed heavily and looked at Roy. "Can't you talk to him? You have more experience in that kind of situation. You have been with men after all."

Roy regarded his friend for a long moment and nodded.

"I understand what you mean but... being with men doesn't mean that I exactly know what Ed is going through. We were always discreet and I didn't have to read books on it. My foster mother made sure that I would know every form of love coming along in live." He sighed and scratched his head. "But I can still talk to him – as a friend. And you should talk to him as well. As his father or as close as a father you are to him."

Hughes nodded and got off the bed leaving dusty marks on the sheets.

"I'll help you to wash them."

"You could have avoided that by pulling them off as you sat on my bed."

"But I was mad at you. I couldn't think about getting my boots off without wanting to throw one at your head."

Roy snorted but made his way to his bathroom stopping on the threshold.

"Where's Edward?"

"In the library with his brother but he will be back later. I told him to come back."

Roy nodded and closed the bathroom door behind himself to get washed up. Hughes made his way downstairs finding Ed already sitting on the couch expecting one or both of them.

"You're back early. I hadn't expected you back before lunch or even later."

The teen just nodded and looked up at the older man.

"I couldn't concentrate and Al told me to get some fresh air and if that didn't help I should go back here to ask you what you wanted to talk to me. I think I was annoying him."

Hughes sat beside Ed on the couch looking at the hearth. He sighed deeply. He wished Ed had come back later because now he not yet knew what to tell him.

"You told me this morning something. Some things you had read in books from the library."

Ed looked up to the older man then down to his hands resting on his lap.

"Yeah..."

"Does your brother know what you're reading about when it's not about alchemy?"

Ed's eyes grew wide but he didn't look up. Hughes could feel the tension in the teen's body. That was answer enough for him – Al didn't know and shouldn't probably know about his brother's... liking.

"I see."

The older man rubbed over his chin and leaned back.

"I... know that it is wrong. I.. shouldn't even think about it. But I can't... I can't help it. Every time... It happens all the time when I'm here..."

"What happens, Ed?"

The teen blushed and rolled his eyes.

"Every time he looks at me I feel.. good and my heart starts beating faster.. and when he smiles..." He swallowed and had to suppress an idiotic smile. "When he actually smiles at me than I don't know if I can resist the urge to just throw myself at him."

Hughes nodded crossing his arms over his chest. He licked over his lips and tried to find the words to make Ed understand that there wasn't anything wrong about loving another man – maybe he should have started with somebody his own age or only some years older (not 14). But he knew Ed too well – the kid didn't get along with people his own age and was mostly surrounded by men at least twice his age. He sighed heavily.

"You maybe shouldn't throw yourself at _him_ as long as _he_ doesn't know what kind of feelings you have for him but loving another man isn't bad, Edward."

The teen and the older man looked up at the other man coming down the stairs. The colonel still had a towel around his neck and looked mostly as if he had just came out of the shower. The teen was stunned into silence not only by Roy's appearance but also by the man's words. Hughes already thought that now everything would be good for Ed – as the man he longed for declared that it wasn't bad to love another man. But how wrong he was...

"What.. What the hell would you know?! How dare you listen to what Hughes and I are talking about? How dare you for talking as if you would know anything about it?!"

Roy looked down at Ed – his eyes gone cold and his mask in place. Hughes hadn't thought that this could turn into an argument of some sorts.

"What I do know? I know a lot more about those kind of things than you would ever presume."

"Sure you would with you sleeping with every available women over 18 in this town."

"Jealous, Edward?"

"You wish!"

With that the teen stormed out of Roy's house banging the front door behind him loudly. Hughes gasped at the closed door. Roy still looked angry and made his way to the kitchen.

As angry as was he brewed coffee and made some toast he could eat. There was still the pot with chicken soup standing on the kitchen counter. At first he intended to just throw it away but then his expressions softened at the memory of Ed sitting at his kitchen table eating and apple and reading a cookbook – of all the books available to him. He sat down with a mug and dry toast – not even looking at it.

"I never thought he would explode like that. I really thought... I don't know what I thought..."

Hughes took a cup of coffee and sat opposite from Roy. The older man was totally disturbed by what just had happened. This morning he was angry at Roy as he found Ed in Roy's bed looking at the older man rather lovingly but than after Ed's declaration and Roy's answer – he had been sure that Ed would be relieved.

"Nobody knows how Ed will react. He's … 15... just a teenager..." He sighed heavily. "Sometimes we forget that too easily."

The two men sipped their coffee in silence. Roy was still on ill leave and he didn't have to go to work until the coming week and he was glad for it. There were still three days left to righten the thing with Edward – to make him believe that he didn't do anything wrong and to get him back here. Roy hated to admit it – but every time the blonde was here he felt rather comfortable with him and liked to have him around.

"Do you know a Juliet Douglas?"

Roy looked up from his mug and eyed his friend suspiciously.

"Should I know her?"

"No, not really. She's Bradley's secretary and there is something off about her." The older man sighed heavily. "But if you don't know her it's maybe just my imagination running wild."

"Is that the reason you came by?"

"Mostly and because you were ill of course."

"'Of Course'."

An hour later the telephone rang and brought them back to reality. Hughes had been snoring on Roy's armchair – he had been on a train all night and was tired – and Roy had been reading some reports Hawkeye had left him when they had brought him to his house.

"Mustang."

"Colonel? It's Alphonse.... Is my brother with you? He said he would be going to Mr Hughes and I wanted to know when he's coming back. It's nearly lunch time and he hadn't had any breakfast..."

"Sorry Alphonse, but Ed isn't here."

"But Mr Hughes is with you and Nii-san said he would come and see him...."

"Ed was here, that's right. But he has already left over an hour ago. So he hasn't come back to you?"

He heard the shuffling of the armour at the other end of the line.

"No he hasn't... I...I'll go and..."

"Calm down, Alphonse. Hughes and I will go searching for him. East City isn't as big as Central. We will find him. You'll stay at the library if Ed goes there. I'll call you or bring him to you if he wants. Okay?"

"Okay. I don't know why he didn't come back... He has never done something like that before..."

"We'll find him. I promise, Alphonse."

"Thank you, Colonel. Good-bye."

"Good-bye, Alphonse."

The raven-haired man hung up and turned to his friend who was already waiting with his coat over his arm.

"I'll give you 5 minutes. If you're not down by that time I'm going alone."

Roy just nodded and made his way upstairs throwing on a pair of loose fitting pants and a pullover. He ran downstairs getting his shoes on and his coat from the coat rack. Both men rushed out of the door stopping on the porch to discuss where they should begin their search coming to the conclusion it would be best to start at the nearby park as it lay on the way to the library.

They had been searching for almost an hour – the park was larger than it seemed from the outside – as they found Ed sitting on a swing with his head bent. It was an abandoned playground and there was nobody around to take notice of the teen with the red coat. They made their way over to the blonde – Roy staying mostly in the background so that Ed wouldn't leap out on him or run away again.

Hughes knelled down in front of Ed and reached his hand out to touch the teen – to get his attention. But even before Hughes' hand had made contact with the blonde's shoulder he looked up – with red eyes and flushed cheeks. Maes didn't have to ask him what he had been doing here.

"Hey."

The older man said softly and stroked over tear stained cheeks. The teen sniffed as some kind of response but let Hughes do what he wanted to do. Hughes got an tissue from his pocket and handed it to Ed who took it thankfully and blew his nose.

"How did you find me?"

"Alphonse called to ask when you will be back as it was lunch time and you hadn't had anything for breakfast."

The blonde looked to Roy whose cold mask was back on his face. Ed searched the man's face for any emotion – anger, hurt, relieve, something. But he found none and looked down at his hands again.

"Sorry. For worrying you. I hadn't the intention … to do it..."

"You still did it."

"Roy..."

"Don't Roy me, Maes. He ran away because.. I don't even know why... He just run away without letting his brother know where he was. He worried Alphonse... and he worried us."

At the 'us' Ed's head snapped up. So he did matter to the Colonel. Roy had meanwhile blushed at his own revelation. He hadn't meant to say it but he still _meant_ it.

"Come on, Full – Edward. We'll bring you to your brother."

The teen stood up as Hughes did but the older man put a hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Edward shouldn't go back to Alphonse the way he looks now. There would be... questions I don't think Ed wants to answer just now."

Said blonde looked up at the Lieutenant Colonel and appreciated the thoughtfulness of the older man. With his eyes red from crying and a somewhat throaty voice he couldn't go back to his younger brother. Roy just looked at both and shrugged. Better to get the teen home and let him freshen up a bit before he had to see his younger brother and had to explain why he had left Roy and Hughes without coming straight back to Alphonse.

It didn't take long for them to get back to Roy's house. Ed went right away into the guest bathroom to get some cold water into his face. It felt good on his reddened eyes and nose and he felt a lot better – being here in this house. But now he had to apologise for his behaviour. He hated to admit that he had acted like a teenager and was sorry he had been screaming at Roy – he hadn't wanted to do that. He wanted to go back to this morning when he woke up in the Colonel's arms. He had blushed furiously and scooted a bit back so that there was some space between them. But he had stayed in bed – resisting the urge to stroke the thick black hair. It had felt good and he couldn't find anything wrong about feeling what he did for the Colonel. But there were others who knew it was wrong – why should they write books about it being wrong if it wasn't wrong? There were a lot of morons out there writing books about who-knew-what but... but there should be something about what they were writing... as there were a lot of people out there writing about it and that it should happen between a man and a woman and not two men. He sighed heavily and put the towel back on the hook next to the washstand before he went into the living room.

Hughes and Roy were already waiting for him with coffee and some sandwiches. He was hungry he had to admit and took a sip of his coffee before he bent down and took one of the sandwiches. Hughes was sitting on the armchair and Roy on the sofa. Carefully the teen sat next to his Commanding Officer. Should he start by apologising right away or wait until one of the older men had said something? Roy was making the decision for him.

"About this morning, Ed. We should really talk about it."

The teen swallowed the last bite of his sandwich and turned to the Colonel.

"I.. I'm sorry for what I did this morning... I didn't want to scream at you or anything..."

"Ed, I'm used to you screaming at me. It's the … other part of this morning we should talk about."

The blonde looked down and swallowed.

"Oh..."

"I meant what I said, Edward. There is nothing wrong with you liking men."

"But... there are all this books and... they always _always_ they it _is_ wrong."

The Colonel gave a small laugh at that and put his hand on Ed's shoulder so that the teen would look up at him.

"Believe me: There is nothing wrong about it."

"Love is love – no matter where it came from."

They looked at Hughes who was smiling sadly at the teen and the older man sitting next to him.

"Sadly that most people just forget that."

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Review, maybe? ^^;


	7. 7th time

Here we go again ^^ Have fun reading.. and please don't kill me, okay?

* * *

**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

Last time on Simple Offer:

"_Love is love – no matter where it came from."_

_

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_

~Seventh Time~

Ed was sitting opposite from his brother. Just 30 minutes now and they would arrive in Central. It wasn't planed that they would go there but they still had time from the assignment left and Colonel Bastard could 'go fuck himself' if he thought that Ed would come back early from his mission. Of course this was just an excuse – Ed couldn't admit that he had a crush on the dark-haired man. Al shouldn't - _couldn't_ – know about Ed's liking.

The three men had sat in Roy's living room for hours after the older men had found Ed sitting on a swing in a park close to Mustang's house. While the teen had freshened up in the bathroom the Colonel had called Alphonse – letting him know that his brother was safe with him and that he wouldn't come to their dorm room that night as they had to talk. Roy hadn't mentioned what this talk was about – he had made something up about some mission Ed was to go on and that Al could do some reading while Ed got a briefing.

So they had talked. They had been talking about being gay or bi, confirming that Ed was indeed gay – he couldn't find anything attractive about girls or women. Roy had just rolled his eyes as the teen went on and on about how annoying females were and that he couldn't be anything else but gay as his experience with women ranged from violent (Winry) to scary (Riza) besides that he knew everything about the inner working of female human beings as he had studied them a long time ago. Interesting to him were men. He was one himself but... to be honest he didn't even know why he reacted the way he did most of the time.

The blonde turned lightly pink as he thought about the way the Colonel had blushed when Hughes demanded – not asked – from the dark-haired man to tell about his experience with men. He was hesitant as he talked about one male he had been in love with before the war in Ishbal had started. They hadn't been long together but they had feelings for one another that went deeper than anything Roy had have with a woman afterwards. 'What happened to him?' The teen had heard himself asking – he hadn't intended to do so, he was just curious why they weren't together any more when they had loved each other. 'He's dead.' was Mustang's soft answer and Ed regretted to have asked in the first place.

So now the Elric brothers were on their way to Central to visit Hughes and his family. They haven't seen in years and even Ed had to admit that he missed their little sister Elysia and Gracia – most of all the fabulous apple pie the woman made. Two months after their talk in East City and Ed had questions he wanted to ask Hughes – when they were alone, of course. The teen blushed some more as he had to concede to himself that the man had become some kind of a father to them. He had never wanted any body else beside Al and his mother (and in some way Winry and Pinako) as his family and now it was getting even bigger with Hughes as a surrogate father, Gracia as some kind of an aunt (he couldn't think of her as his mother) and Elysia as their little sister. And there was Roy...

Roy with eyes so dark that you could see yourself in them. Roy with hands so big and warm that he felt safe when he was with him. Roy who – mostly – wouldn't see anything in him but a loud-mouthed teenager with anger management problems. He sighed heavily. Life was really a bitch when your name was Edward Elric. He slumped down and frowned deeply. The blonde didn't know when this crush would stop – if this crush would ever stop. That was one of the questions he wanted to ask Hughes. The man knew about his feelings for the Colonel – he just hoped Huhges wouldn't tell Roy about them.

Suddenly the train stopped and Ed was thrown from his seat to the floor. He had missed that the train was pulling into Central Station and came to an halt at the platform. His younger brother looked down. He was surprised – as surprised as amour could be – to find his older sibling on the floor and not the bench. Said older brother was sulking on the floor with no intention to stand up soon – or before he had calmed down enough to not throw a fit.

"Nii-san? Are you going to stand up?"

"Just a minute, Al."

The older teen grumbled under his breath and stood up. He dusted his clothes off and walked past his younger brother to the exit. He stretched and yawned as his feet hit the pavement. The air was cold but not cold enough to freeze – he rarely did with all the layers he was wearing. It was already late and the station was nearly empty.

The teens made their way out of the station to the closest hotel where they would be staying. It was too late to go to Hughes and his family and they didn't want to force themselves on Hughes. They knew the older man would invite them into his house but as already said it was just too late to go there now. They walked in silence. The brothers knew their way around Central – even at this time of the day – and knew where to go and where not. They wouldn't dare to take the short cut through the warehouse district – there were always some gangs hanging around and meeting them once was more than enough.

Nearly half an hour later they arrived at the hotel. The check-in didn't take long as Ed and Al were already known to the receptionist and the other employees in the hotel – as it was mostly frequented by them and other military personnel. The blonde sighed as he sat down on the comfortable bed. They had been on the train for over a day and now he was glad to stretch out and sleep on an actual bed with an actual pillow – not his coat – and an actual blanket. He let himself fall back on the bed – his feet skimming over the carpet.

"Nii-san?"

The older brother looked up and waited for his younger sibling to go on.

"We don't have anything to drink. We should go and buy some. And something to eat as well – the restaurant is already closed."

Ed nodded. It was late but there were still some shops open to get something to eat – even when most of that stuff didn't taste or look like actual food. He sighed.

"You don't have to go, Al. I can get some on my own. It won't take long."

The younger brother nodded his helmet and went back unpacking his older brother's suitcase.

Ed was walking back to the hotel. He had gotten some bread – hard but it will do – and some fruits and a bottle of water. He didn't need more. Tomorrow they would be seeing Hughes and getting something better to eat. He was excited to see them all again and to get his mind off the research. They weren't closer to their goal but at least they seemed to be on the right way. There were a lot of rumours – as always – but there were some that sounded promising – even one including a man that sounded to much like Hohenheim that he _couldn't not_ be involved. The blonde sighed heavily. He had seen it coming for a long time. All those letters from alchemists all around Amestris. Nobody knew where Hohenheim was but they all wanted advise from him. Another sigh escaped the teen as he bumped into somebody else.

"I'm sorry."

He looked up into two soft rusty brown eyes. The blond teenager blinked as he recognised the other person.

"Lieutenant Hawkeye? What are you doing here? Shouldn't you be in East City?"

The blond woman inclined her head and looked at the young man.

"We have been transferred back here."

Ed arched an eyebrow.

"Why would you be transferred back here? Do the higher-ups want a closer eye on the Colonel or something? Wouldn't be amazed if it were so."

The teen laughed but the Lieutenant stayed calm and indifferent to the youth's words.

"Hasn't anybody told you, Edward?"

"What should anybody tell me? I'm just here to visit Hughes and his family."

A pained look crossed the woman's face and she looked down at him – sadness written all over her features.

"We have been transferred back on request of Colonel Mustang. We're here to...' She took a deep breath. 'investigate the murder of Brigadier General Hughes."

He had read about it once when he had been a kid and his mother was still alive. He had asked her how something like this could happen – how time could stand still. She had smiled and tried to make him understand the way human minds were working. Time couldn't stand still but sometimes it seems to stop – mostly when a person experiences something wonderful or something very bad. After all this years it happened to him – time stood still and he didn't know if it would ever go on again. Moments later – what felt like hours to him – he heard the Lieutenant call his name. He blinked once, twice before he could see her again.

"Wh... when?"

His voice was low – nearly that of a small kid - and he could hear the fear and the hurt behind it. Could she as well?

"A month ago. Here in Central."

He nodded. His head hurt. Just minutes ago he was anxious to see the older man again – to ask him questions he couldn't ask anybody else – and now? Hughes was... dead... murdered. Who would do something like that? The man hadn't done anything to be murdered.

"Why would anybody do that?"

"We don't know, Edward. But we will find out."

He swallowed. Somehow he felt as if it was his fault. In some way it made sense. All the people he liked – loved – got hurt. First his mother – he knew it wasn't his fault but somehow he wished he had been a better son – then Al – that was his fault no matter how often Al told him that it was the younger brother's fault as well – then there was Nina – he should have seen that coming – and now it was Hughes.

He pressed the bag closer to his body. Suddenly a picture of the Colonel flashed though his mind. He and Hughes were the closest friends. He had seen those two together – arguing, talking. When he felt as if the world has come to an end how would Roy feel? His head snapped up. He swallowed again. The teen had to see Mustang. Even if the Colonel would send him away, even if the older man would tell him that he couldn't know , he had to see him – he had to make sure the older man wouldn't do something he would regret later on.

"Mustang.. the Colonel is he still living in that house where he was living before he moved to East City?"

The young Lieutenant nodded.

"It's really late, Edward. You should go back to your hotel. Alphonse must be waiting."

Alphonse. He hadn't thought about his little brother. What will he say when he gets the news?

"Edward?"

He looked up. He could see that Riza was concerned. He shouldn't make her worry even more. He would think about something. He took a deep breath and nodded.

"You're right. I should be heading back. Al is waiting for me."

"Should I come along with you?"

"No... Thanks for the offer but it's not far now. Bye. Lieutenant."

"Good-bye, Edward."

It wasn't far to his hotel but what would he tell Al? His little brother could see – nearly – everything. When he was hurt, when he was confused, when he was angry – okay that wasn't hard to see – and when he was sad. He sighed heavily as he stood in front of the building. He could see the lights in their room. Al didn't need light to read at night but it was kind of a habit to turn the lights on until Ed was fast asleep.

He couldn't face his brother now. He just couldn't bring himself to look into Al's eyes and tell him what Riza just had told him. Al was still a kid – even if he didn't look like it in his huge suit of amour. Sometimes even Ed forgot that. But Ed couldn't forget that Al wasn't able to express his feelings – Ed could cry but wouldn't and Al couldn't cry but wanted to so badly. He swallowed walked inside and straight to the receptionist's desk. The girl behind it looked at him curiously.

"Could you give that to Alphonse Elric? And tell him that I had to go somewhere. I don't know if I will be back soon. He shouldn't wait up for me."

The girl took the bag and made a note for Al if he would come down to ask – and he would, Ed knew that – if his big brother had left a message for him or if he hadn't come back.

It didn't take him long to get to the Colonel. The man lived pretty close to the hotel they were staying at. The teen looked at the front door. For several minutes he had been standing there. He couldn't get himself to knock – afraid that the Colonel would send him away or even shout at him. He sighed. It wouldn't do. He already had left Al to got to the Colonel the least he could do was knock. The teen rapped and waited for somebody to open. It didn't take long and a sleepy-eyed dark-haired man opened the door.

The older man raised his eyebrows. He hadn't suspected any visitors as he had just gotten here two days ago but what, who he saw standing on his porch was nearly a shock to him. His heart missed a beat and he had to take a deep breath. He swallowed and stepped aside to let the teen in. Sooner or later he would have had to face the blonde – he had hoped it was later. The Colonel didn't even know that Ed had been in Central – the young man had been in the South on a mission and wasn't due to report for another week. He sighed and got Ed's coat as the teen got out of his boots and made his way to the living room.

There were boxes everywhere – a sign that the Colonel hadn't been here for long – and bags from the deli were lying on the small table in front of the sofa. Ed took a seat on the sofa and looked at the hearth – there had been wood in there the whole time in East City – which was empty and still dusty from all the years it hadn't been used.

"Who had told you?"

The dark-haired man's voice was low and raspy. His eyes were a little red from lack of sleep – and something else.

"Hawkeye. I met her on my way back to the hotel."

The older man nodded and sat next to Ed.

"Why are you here? I thought you were in the South."

"We were done early and decided to visit Hughes and his family. We arrived two hours ago."

"I see."

Silence as thick as concrete settled over them. Neither wanted to say a word – Ed was afraid that the Colonel would sent him off and Roy thought that Ed would demand why nobody had told him. It wouldn't have been easy but there were ways to contact somebody on the road. The older man sighed heavily.

"Do you want something to drink?"

"Yeah...Coffee or water would be nice."

"So coffee it will be."

Roy went into the kitchen and prepared the coffee. As he came back into the living room he saw Ed with his legs drawn to his chest his head resting on his knees. The older man had always known that the young alchemist was flexibly but he didn't think he would be able to do that. He made his way over and handed him one of the mugs before he sat back down next to the teen. Again that silence settled over them.

Normally when they were together like that Hughes had been there as well or one of them had been ill or it was something else what had been distracting them from arguing constantly.

"Do you.. know... how he was murdered?"

Roy swallowed the last of his coffee down.

"He was shot."

"Haven't there been any witnesses?"

"Not as far as I know."

The teen looked up at the older man frowning. He knitted his brows even further together and searched the dark-haired man's face for a clue.

"But Hawkeye said.. you.. were investigating the case."

Roy nodded and took another sip from his mug.

"Yes. But that doesn't mean that I know everything about it. It's not an.. official...investigation."

Ed didn't understand what Mustang was talking about. When he was investigating the case why wasn't it official? Why didn't he know if there had been witnesses? Roy seemed to be able to read all his questions.

"The police and the military closed the case – as rubbery. Hughes personal belongings as well as his wallet were missing."

"You mean...' The teen turned to the older man. '.. that just some petty criminal rubbed and shot Hughes? That this was coincidence that Hughes had been there?"

He hadn't even realised that his voice had gotten louder and that he had been dragging the Colonel forward by his collar. He looked at the face so close to him and swallowed. Everything that had happened had caused the Colonel to loose his mask. Black eyes as intense as black diamonds were looking back at him. He had to suppress the urge to just press his lips to the Colonel's. That wasn't what he was here for.

Slowly, carefully Roy managed to get the hand off his collar and to get some space between them. The urge was there – to just claim Ed's lips and forget what happened by forgetting himself and take more from the young man than he would probably give. Ed was still watching him with his huge golden eyes – eyes that were too old and too young for the face of the young alchemist. He swallowed and cleared his throat before he spoke again.

"I didn't say that. The police and the military may believe that but I don't."

He searched for the right words so that Ed wouldn't get angry again.

"He tried to call me. Havoc told me later when we packed up. He wanted to tell me something. Sciezka said that he was researching a Juliet Douglas. He had asked me about her when he had been in East City two months ago but I couldn't tell him anything new about that woman. I don't even know her."

He sighed heavily and leaned his head back.

"If I would have been there maybe we would be wiser. Maybe we would already have the one who shot Hughes."

"But he still would be dead."

Roy didn't say anything to Ed's statement. His gaze was directed to the ceiling. He licked his lips. He hadn't thought that Ed's presence would calm him down and comfort him in a way it did.

"Does Al know?"

The teen just shook his head as an answer.

"Don't you want to tell him before he reads anything in the morning papers? Does he actually know where you are?"

Ed laid his head on the backrest and looked directly at Roy.

"He doesn't now where I am exactly. I left him a message that I had to go somewhere. I'll be back early enough to tell him." He rubbed his eyes. "I just couldn't get myself to tell him now – so shortly after I have found out."

The parted lips, the half-closed eyes – it was all so tempting. But Roy wouldn't take advantage of the situation.

"Then call him."

The younger man raised an eyebrow.

"Tell him over the phone? No. That wouldn't do."

"Tell him you're here and that you'll coming back tomorrow morning."

"And what should I tell him why you are here?"

Roy just shrugged and yawned.

"It's not unusual to be transferred. Three years is a long time to be in command."

The younger male nodded and went to the phone to call his younger brother. Soon he was back – closer than before but still far enough away that Roy couldn't reach out and take him in his arms.

As they were both too tired to leave their eyes open for more than two minutes they decided to go to bed. Ed borrowed some old pants and an old shirt from Roy to sleep in and the Colonel got his own shirt and sleeping pants out. Soon Ed was close to sleep. He opened his eyes as he felt the hand stroking his hair. The Colonel was looking at him – still no mask in sight.

"I'll bring you to him. Al can't come but I can bring you to him."

Ed knitted his brows together. That didn't make sense.

"Why can't Al come to the cemetery?"

His words were slurred from the heaviness of sleep fogging his brain.

"Hughes isn't on the cemetery."

"How long is it ago that he isn't buried yet?"

"Hughes isn't dead. We buried a fake body."

Ed's eyes flew open. What did the Colonel just say?

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comments are love ^^v


	8. 8th time

Damn that took me far too long -.- I'm sorry ^^;

To all of you who reviewed: I have read your reviews and I loved them ^^ I just can't remember who I actually replied to... So to all of you: THANKS SO MUCH!!

* * *

**Title: Simple Offer**

Rating: NC17 overall (PG 13 this chapter)  
Pairing: Roy/Ed  
Warnings: Spoilers for the series, Yaoi, AU

Disclaimer: I'm playing with them, I don't OWN them.

Summary: A little offer and what came out of it.

Last time on Simple Offer:

"_We have been transferred back on request of Colonel Mustang. We're here to...' She took a deep breath. 'investigate the murder of Brigadier General Hughes."_

_

* * *

_~Eighth Time~

Ed was eyeing his coffee. He couldn't stomach anything. Last night when the Colonel had told him that Hughes wasn't dead he was relieved and wanted to see the man immediately – to make sure the Colonel hadn't lied to him. But they couldn't just go to Central Hospital at that time of the night. Hughes was in coma – so much did Roy tell him the night before. But the man hadn't gone into detail – he didn't want to. It was late and they were tired but Ed could get over this – he had worked through tiredness before.

But the dark-haired man had shaken his head and cupped his cheek stroking softly over it with his thumb. 'Not now, Ed. Let's sleep. Tomorrow I'll bring you to him.' The teen leaned into the touch and nodded. It wouldn't have been wise to just start off. So he had lied down and closed his eyes. Moments later he had been engulfed in the warmth that provided Roy's body for him.

Now they were sitting opposite on the kitchen table. They hadn't talked much since they had woken up together. Roy had been greeted by the soft blond hair and Ed had been looking directly into a shirt-clad chest that smelled awesome to him. Neither said a word about last night. Both still feeling the warmth the other man had provided and how _right_ it had felt to wake up in each others arms. Ed would never admit it out loud but he felt safe with Roy here and he rather liked it that – somehow – the Colonel protected him from the outside world in his house. That inside Roy's home he could think about a future he had denied himself for a long time. The teen looked up at the older man. There was still no mask in sight. Unhidden emotions playing over his face and in his eyes.

He rather liked the sight. Messy hair hanging in his eyes, stubbles shadowing his jaw. Would he ever be able to see that again without the sadness in the Colonel's eyes? He wasn't stupid. He knew what he had felt last night when Roy had been stroking his hair, taking him in his arms. He couldn't have mistaken that – he didn't want it to be his imagination running wild.

Ed blushed crimson as the Colonel looked up from his own mug looking directly at the teen. The older man raised an eyebrow. Quickly the teen looked back down to his coffee and took a sip. He grimaced as the cold liquid hit his tongue. He put the mug back down leaning back in his chair. He was surprised as he felt the Colonel's warm hand on his rather cold left one. The teen looked up and tried to read the expression on the Colonel's face as the older man stroked his thumb over Ed's knuckles.

"About last night, Edward." The raven-haired man hesitated and searched for the right words. "For some time now I have been feeling..." He hesitated again and sighed heavily but never stopped stroking the younger man's hand. Ed's heart had started to beat faster. Could it be? Could he really hope to get something he had wanted for a long time? The Colonel licked his lips. "For some time now I have feelings... for... you... I know I shouldn't act on them but last night when you came to my door and looked so... hurt and I was... I don't know what I was... I should have send you home... Hughes... Maes he would be so angry.... and I don't know what to tell him... I must be out of my mind..." He rubbed his hand over his face. "I'm sorry."

Ed took a small breath and let it out slowly. "You tell me that it was wrong you took me in and held me close last night?" Carefully. He didn't want to get angry. Not now when they would be visiting Hughes in some hours and he still felt so good despite what had happened.

The Colonel shook his head. "No. I wanted to comfort you and I think... I think I needed it as well. But I shouldn't take advantage of you by forcing myself on you."

The teen inclined his head looking directly at the older man. "You say it as if we would have had sex last night. We just... comforted one another. I can't remember loosing any clothing in bed." Talking so casually about it without blushing tomato red was really an advancement. The older man looked up – dumbstruck and a little red.

"It's not that I mind to do that with you." More gaping from the other side of the table and Ed could feel his ears burning with the blush. Suddenly the older man laughed – he had such a wonderful laugh and Ed couldn't remember if he had heard it ever before.

"I 'don't mind' it as well. I would rather take you upstairs than to a small hidden hospital room where my best friend is lying in coma." The teen closed his eyes feeling the sudden urge to tear up – or to get angry at the one who had done this to Hughes. Roy took his left hand in his and pressed it to his cheek.

"Promise me something?" Ed just nodded. "When this is over you'll tell me everything, okay?" The Colonel kissed his palm and let his hand go. Ed swallowed and couldn't do anything but nod and make a promise he wasn't sure he could keep.

Half an hour later there was a knocking on the door. Roy answered it and let Al in. Within his amour he couldn't show any feeling but there standing in his living room Roy could see the tears the boy had shed. Knowing that Ed hadn't told him yet, Al must have met somebody who did know – at least the official version.

The older Elric looked at his brother and then to Roy confirming what the Colonel had thought. Al had met Szieska on his way to the Colonel's house. The young woman was distressed to say at least and told Al everything what she knew about how and when it had happened. Ed hugged his brother around the cold spiky shoulders and whispered soothing words. Al had to be calm before his older brother could tell him that Hughes wasn't dead but in coma and that Ed was about to visit the older man.

"Hush-hush. Calm down, Al. I have to tell you something. Hush." Slowly the younger Elric calmed down. "What I tell you now has to stay here between us. You're not allowed to anybody – not Gracia nor Winry or anybody else. Do you understand?" The amour boy nodded his helmet. "Good." Ed took a deep breath and looked to Roy to calm himself down a little. "Hughes is not dead. The Colonel buried a fake body." Al was silent for some moments. He looked to Roy who just nodded and confirmed was Ed just had said.

"Where is he? Can we see him? Is he all right?"

"Calm down, Al." Ed stroked the cold metal helmet as if it was his brother's real head and hair – somehow it calmed the younger Elric until he was just sitting on Roy's floor waiting for whatever Ed would tell him. "Hughes is in the hospital. He's lying in coma and the Colonel will let me see him..' he hesitated a moment and sighed 'but you can't come with us."

"I can't come with you?"

Ed shook his head looking apologetic at his younger brother. "I'm sorry but too many people know you and we can't really disguise you. I'm sorry." Al understood.

Two hours later when the streets were busy and too many people were walking around to recognise anybody walking next to them, the Colonel in civilian clothing and Ed – his hair dyed black and glasses on with blue jeans and some sweater they had found in Roy's wardrobe – were taking the last turn to Central Hospital where they would visit Hughes. The Colonel had gotten quieter the closer they came to the hospital. As they entered the hospital the raven-haired man turned left and walked straight to the stairs. Nobody was watching them, nobody was asking them what they were doing there.

They walked upstairs until they reached the top where they could only walk through a plain grey painted door. The Colonel opened the door and held it open for Ed to walk through. They walked through a white corridor until they reached another door. Roy knocked once and entered immediately. They were greeted by a nurse who eyed them warily. "To visit your... brother, I presume?" The Colonel nodded friendly. "And you are?"

The Colonel laid an arm around the teen's shoulder.

"He's my son and wants to see his uncle."

The nurse nodded curtly and made some notes on her chart.

"You can go through. There is nothing new to his condition."

Roy nodded briefly and took Ed's hand. The teen nearly pulled his hand out of the Colonel's but remembered that he acted as the older man's son – and they would have to talk about that when they were back at the older man's house.

They walked through the door. Ed hated hospitals. Everything was white and sterile and it smelled... he didn't want to think about it. He looked at the figure lying in the bed. Hughes was pale – nearly as pale as Roy – his eyes closed and his face still. He nearly looked as if he was asleep but Ed knew otherwise. For nearly a month the man has been lying there in this bed and hadn't moved at all.

"Go to him. They say he may hear you but they don't know. I usually speak to him. Can't let him be lonely."

Ed walked over to the bed and sat on the chair next to it.

"Hey Hughes. Long time not seen." Ed smiled sadly down at the man. "You may wonder why I'm here. We were on an assignment and wanted to visit you, Gracia and Elysia. I was really looking forward to see you again. I had...' his eyes flickered up to Roy who was looking out of the window pretending not to hear anything at all 'questions... about some stuff. I had hoped you could answer them. Al is fine by the way. But we couldn't bring him here. I had to dye my hair, Ba... Roy made me do it. I' wearing glasses as well and some stuff the Colonel had hidden in his wardrobe."

They stayed silent for the rest of their visit. Roy had taken a seat as well and laid an arm around Ed's shoulders kissing the top of the teen's hair. Then there was a knock on the door and they knew that they had to go.

They walked back through the halls and down the stairs until they reached the main entrance. Ed stopped in his tracks and fidgeted with his hands.

"Colonel?"

Roy turned around and raised an eyebrow.

"I... I have to go somewhere. Could you tell Al I'll be back soon?"

"Sure. Where are you going?"

"I just have to look something up. I'll be back soon..."

With that he was gone and Roy walked home alone.

Some time later the young alchemist came back with an envelope tucked under his arm.

"Al? Colonel?"

He got out of his coat hung it up and got out of his boots.

"I'm here, Nii-san."

Ed went into the study where his brother's voice came from. Al was sitting on the floor with piles of books around him.

"Where' the Colonel?"

"He had to got to work. Lieutenant Hawkeye had called. They have found a lead or something. He couldn't tell me more."

His older brother nodded and sat beside his younger brother. He took some documents out of the envelope and laid them between them.

"Al. I think we have to talk."


End file.
